Keith Browning

{{short description|British meteorologist}}

{{For|the Australian rules footballer|Keith Browning (footballer)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1938|07|31}}

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| fields = Meteorology

| workplaces = Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, Met Office, University of Reading

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| alma_mater = Imperial College London (B.S., Ph.D.)

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| known_for = Supercell, sting jet, and other conceptual meteorological work

| awards = {{no wrap|Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal
The Chree Medal and Prize {{small|(1981)}}
Symons Gold Medal {{small| (2000)}}}}

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Keith Anthony Browning (born 31 July 1938) is a British meteorologist who worked at Imperial College London, the Met Office, and the University of Reading departments of meteorology. His work with Frank Ludlam on the supercell thunderstorm at Wokingham, UK in 1962 was the first detailed study of such a storm.{{cite journal |last=Browning |first=Keith A. |authorlink=Keith A. Browning |author2=Frank H. Ludlam |title=Airflow in convective storms |journal= Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society|volume=88 |issue=376 |pages=117–35 |date=April 1962 |url=http://www.rmets.org/sites/default/files/qj62browning.pdf |doi = 10.1002/qj.49708837602 |bibcode = 1962QJRMS..88..117B }}; {{cite journal | doi = 10.1002/qj.49708837819 | title = Airflow in convective storms |year = 1962 |last1 = Browning |first1 = K. A. |last2 = Ludlam |first2 = F. H. |journal = Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society| volume = 88 | issue = 378 | pages = 555 |bibcode = 1962QJRMS..88..555B }}{{cite journal |last=Browning |first=Keith A. |authorlink=Keith A. Browning |title=Airflow and Precipitation Trajectories Within Severe Local Storms Which Travel to the Right of the Winds |journal=J. Atmos. Sci. |volume=21 |issue=6 |pages=634–9 |date=November 1964 |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1964)021<0634:AAPTWS>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode = 1964JAtS...21..634B |hdl=2027/mdp.39015095125533 |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal |last=Browning |first=Keith |authorlink=Keith A. Browning |title=Some Inferences About the Updraft Within a Severe Local Storm |journal=J. Atmos. Sci. |volume=22 |issue=6 |pages=669–77 |date=November 1965 |doi=10.1175/1520-0469(1965)022<0669:SIATUW>2.0.CO;2 |type=abstract |bibcode = 1965JAtS...22..669B |hdl=2027/mdp.39015095128867 |hdl-access=free }} His research covered many areas of mesoscale meteorology including developing the theory of the sting jet.[http://www.met.rdg.ac.uk/~mwp/meso/Research/sting_jets.html Sting Jets in Severe Northern European Windstorms] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320023622/http://www.met.rdg.ac.uk/~mwp/meso/Research/sting_jets.html |date=2014-03-20 }} Arguably his greatest talent is his intuitive understanding of complex three-dimensional meteorological processes which he has described more simply using conceptual models.{{Cite web |title=Keith Browning |url=https://royalsociety.org/people/keith-browning-11149/ |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=royalsociety.org}}{{fv|date=April 2025}}

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1978.{{cite web | url= http://royalsociety.org/about-us/fellowship/fellows/| title= Fellows|publisher= Royal Society|accessdate= 20 December 2010}} He was president of the Royal Meteorological Society from 1988 to 1990.

In 1992, Browning was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering for fundamental contributions to the detection and understanding of storms, and the development of operational storm-detection and warning systems.